Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) is a technology that may allow a terminal such as a personal computer or a handheld device (for example, a personal digital assistant (PDA) or a mobile phone) to access a wireless local area network (WLAN) in a wireless manner. In the prior art, WiFi hotspots are available in places such airports, cafes, hotels, bookstores, campuses, and the like, which enable a user access emails, Web pages, and streaming media, and provide wireless broadband Internet access for the user. In addition, WiFi is also a fast and convenient way for accessing Internet at home, in an office, or in a journey.
With gradual application and building of 3G network and even future 4G network technologies, all operators have to face a fact that the bandwidth and speed that the operators are originally proud of are confronted with heavy pressure. Therefore, using WiFi to implement offload of packet switched (PS) data and reduce congestion of a cellular data network has been widely recognized by operators in all countries and has been quickly promoted. WiFi offload (Offload) is a technology that uses WiFi to offload data traffic. At present, the operators deploy a large quantity of WiFi hotspots, expecting to offload data services in 3G networks and even future 4G networks. In the prior art, a corresponding WiFi module is generally set in a terminal supporting a WiFi capability. Electric power consumption is huge if WiFi is enabled all the time. Therefore, a user starts the WiFi module only when using WiFi, and searches for a list of accessible wireless access points (APs), and then selects an AP to access.
However, in a process of implementing the present invention, it is found that the prior art has at least the following disadvantage: In the prior art, a user cannot determine a location of a WiFi hotspot and cannot determine timing for enabling a WiFi function. Generally, the user starts the WiFi module only when WiFi is desired, attempts to search for a corresponding list of accessible APs, and stops the WiFi module when no AP is searched out. However, a network cannot assist a terminal in discovering and selecting a WiFi hotspot in an area where the terminal is located so that the terminal can access a WLAN network. Therefore, in the prior art, use efficiency of WiFi discovery and selection is low.